a trap people often fall in is that once they get outta high school or close to graduation they find a job that pays say $16 an hour. Guy thinks to himself, damn that's a lot of money. What do I need to go to college for? And for a single person living in poverty, that actually does seem a lot. The problem is that the ceiling for earning potential is much lower, but they don't realize that. Once the family comes in the picture all that extra cash evaporates.

For those of us who were fortunate enough to be born in well-to-do family's we have a better idea of exactly what our earning potentials can be. The difference between what seems like a lot of money and what is a lot of money is clearer. Parents also typically keep us focused on the big picture, college even if we aren't interested ourselves, we have a better idea of what's out there.

Its a clear cut case of one side having more advantage than the other imo. Its not impossible to overcome the disadvantage, but it's not easy regardless.